They all fit on one poster, so while it’s an undeniably stacked cast, it’s nowhere near as sprawling as the comics. The film had the advantage of having a reduced pool of heroes to include in the titular war. These additional issues weren’t essential reading, but they explained the impact of the war on other heroes and civilians who weren’t involved in the main storyline. The Civil War miniseries was only seven issues long, but several tie-ins with other Marvel titles ran alongside it. The Avengers are divided on more personal grounds, and because the audience already understands the dynamics between the characters, it creates a gray area that is infinitely more compelling.
Unlike the Superhero Registration Act, the Sokovia Accords weren’t overtly fascistic. The swathes of superheroes and supervillains making these arrests knew the fates awaiting their comrades, which makes it difficult to be sympathetic with them.
The other issue was that many heroes opposing the Act were killed while being apprehended, and those who were caught were imprisoned in the Negative Zone. With a stipulation like that it made little sense for any of the heroes to side with it. One of the elements that the Sokovia Accords didn’t adapt from the comics was the requirement that the registrants had to publicly reveal their identities. While the Superhero Registration Act was a good plot device for the comics, the Sokovia Accords was more plausible in the MCU. But once you’ve signed a contract with one government, you have to play by their rules and serve their agenda, and Steve is understandably suspicious of this. Both of their viewpoints make sense-the lack of accountability in both the government and law enforcement is a very real problem, so it’s easy to understand Tony’s concern that perhaps he and his fellow heroes shouldn’t be allowed to do whatever they want. because there was no higher authority pointing them in a different direction.
But Steve believes preventing the Avengers from being able to intervene in situations like Sokovia is a mistake, because if they hadn’t been there, Ultron might have succeeded in his plan and killed thousands more, if not millions. had been infiltrated by the evil HYDRA in the previous film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) Stark had created Ultron, who went on to destroy Sokovia, a European nation where American authorities had no jurisdiction to intervene. (After all, Steve just learned that S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony Stark/Iron Man ( Robert Downey Jr.) and Steve Rogers/Captain America ( Chris Evans) end up on opposite sides of the debate because Tony feels the need for accountability to assuage his guilty conscience over the destruction caused by Ultron, but Steve is wary of governmental interference and the potential for hidden agendas. In the film, the act is renamed the Sokovia Accords, which seeks to establish a United Nations oversight committee for the Avengers after Wanda Maximoff ( Elizabeth Olson) accidentally kills several civilians. Tony Stark is the act’s loudest supporter, leading the way into a supposedly better new era of superhero accountability. In the comics, the Superhero Registration Act was introduced after a group of young aspiring heroes accidentally cause a shocking tragedy. There Was No "Right" Side to the Conflict On the fifth anniversary of the Captain America: Civil War release, we look at five ways the film improved upon the comics. It also adds in some welcome humor, which was mostly absent from the intense comic series. However, the film improves upon the source material by making the story a little more accessible and compact, and by retooling its themes to better suit the MCU's iteration of the characters. It’s still immersive and emotional, and it remains a compelling piece of political commentary. This is not to say the Civil War comic crossover event doesn’t stand the test of time. The film improves some aspects from page to screen. And that’s a good thing.įaithful adaptations in the MCU are rare the same characters may not have been introduced, and many of the backstories have been updated or changed from the original source material. The film was a massive box office success, but it wasn’t a replica of the comics crossover event upon which it was based. The concluding act of the Captain America trilogy appeared to be an extension of the Avengers films with almost every hero from the franchise (barring Thor and the Hulk) appearing alongside new heroes Black Panther and Spider-Man. Captain America: Civil War hit theatres five years ago this month, in the summer of 2016.